Laundering device



United rates Patent 3,039,287 LAUNDERING DEVICE Arthur E. Sharples, 17 Tonnele Ave., Jersey City, NJ. Fiied Aug. 26, 1960, Ser. No. 52,253 4 Claims. (Cl. 68-214) The present invention relates to a laundering device and, more particularly, to a -ha.nd-manipulated laundering device especially adapted for laundering small quantities of wash in a basin, or the like, and is an extension of and improvement over my invention described and claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 786,486, filed January 13, 1959 (now forfeited).

The present invention has two primary objects. One object is to provide a laundering device of the character described which may be used to pound articles of laundry disposed in a washbasin, on the exterior of the device, as well as to Wash smaller articles, such as hosiery, handkerchiefs, and minor articles of lingerie, disposed in the interior of the device.

A second object of the invention is to provide a laundering device of the character described which is not only effective to force the laundering fluid through the article laundered by the pounding action thereof, but also to create a suction, to return laundering fluid through the article laundered, upon the return movement of the device.

The present invention also has for its object to provide a laundering device of the character described which is of relatively simple construction, easy and convenient to manipulate, and highly effective for its purposes.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a laundering device of the character described which is relatively compact and of pleasing and attractive appearance.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the laundering device of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings and from the description following. It is to be understood, however, that such embodiment is shown by way of illustration only, to make the principles and practice of the invention more readily comprehensible, and without any intent of limiting the invention to the specific details therein shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical, sectional, partly elevational view through a laundering device of the present invention, shown in normal or initial position;

FIG. '2 is a similar view of the device, shown in pounding position;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on line 33 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan View of the device.

Referring now, in greater detail, to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the same is shown to comprise a cylindrical body 10, which may preferably be molded of a synthetic plastic material, which is open at the top Where it is provided with an outwardly and downwardly curving gripping flange 12. The cylinder is provided with a bottom wall 14, which may be molded integrally therewith and is provided with a center, preferably inwardly offset spider 16, that provides openings 18 into the interior of the cylinder 10. The cylinder bottom 14 may also be provided with an annular row of spaced outwardly projecting studs 20, surrounding the spider 16, which may form a pounding element, between and through which may be formed additional openings 22 and 24, respectively.

Reciprocable Within the cylinder 10 is a plunger, generally designated 26, which may preferably be cupshaped, consisting of a bottom 28 and an upstanding 3,039,287 Patented June 19, 1962 cylindrical flange 30, which fits snugly but readily slidably within the cylinder 10. The bottom plunger 28 is provided with an upstanding rod 32 at its center, which is of a height greater than the height of the cylinder 10 so that it projects therefrom at all times and in all positions of the plunger 26 within the cylinder 10. The plunger 26 and rod 32 are likewise preferably formed of molded synthetic plastic material.

The device of the present invention further comprises a cover 34 for the top of the cylinder 10, which is preferably of circular shape and of a size to overlie the cylinder Wall and rest upon the crest of its gripping flange 12. The cover 34 is formed with a central opening 36, through which the plunger rod 32 passes, and is provided with means for retaining it in centered position over the cylinder opening, such as the three or more dependent centering pins 38 extending from its bottom surface. Preferably, the inner corners of the ends of the centering pins 38 may be rabbeted, as at 40, to accommodate the upper edge of the plunger flange 30. If desired, the cover 34 may be provided with cutout recesses 42 in its edge.

The plunger rod 32 is preferably provided with an enlarged, preferably discshaped head 44 at its upper end, and may have mounted thereover, intermediate the top surface of the cover 34 and the head 44, an expansion coil spring 46, which normally tends to maintain the plunger 26 in close-as-possible position adjacent to the cover 34 permitted by the centering pins 38. Preferably both the upper surface of the cover 34 and the inner surface of the plunger head 40 are provided with annular ribs 48 and 50, respectively, defining cylindrical recesses within which the ends of the spring 46 are disposed.

This completes the description of the laundering device of the present invention. In operation, the plunger 26 is inserted into the cylinder 10 and the device is then grasped by the flange 12, by the fingers of both hands, with the thumbs of the hands resting upon the head 44 of the plunger rod 32 to depress the plunger 26, to the maximum, into the interior of the cylinder 10. When in this position, the device is pounded upon the wash in a basin. At the end of the pounding stroke, the thumbs are released from the plunger head 44 and the plunger 26 is automatically returned by the spring 46, to its outermost position in the cylinder 10, creating a suction Within the cylinder 10, which tends to draw the laundering fluid through the opening 18, 22 and 24, into the interior of the cylinder 10, through the laundered articles, to thereby provide an additional rinsing of such articles by the suction drawn laundering fluid. This operation is repeated; to press the plunger 26 downwardly into the cylinder each time the laundry is pounded by the device and to release it at the end of each pounding movement, to create suction upon the automatic return of the plunger to normal position.

In laundering relatively small articles, such as hose or handkerchiefs or the like, the article may be placed directly into the cylinder 10, and the plunger 26 then inserted above the article. The device with the laundry on the inside of it is then lowered into a laundering fluid in a basin while the plunger is depressed, as described above, into the cylinder and against the article disposed therein, to press fluid outwardly therefrom and is then released to create suction through openings 18, 22 and 24, to bring fluid back into the interior of the cylinder and through the article disposed on its bottom, to thereby attain a laundering or rinsing action upon each stroke of the cylinder in each direction.

This completes the description of the laundering device of the present invention. It will be readily apparent that such device may be utilized for laundering articles disposed within and as well as without it; that in both 3 instances the efficiency of the device is enhanced by the suction action created by the resiliently controlled plunger. It will also be apparent that the laundering device of the invention is of relatively simple construction, easy to assemble, and simple and convenient to use.

It will also be apparent that numerous modifications and variations in the laundering device of the present invention may be made by anyone skilled in the art, in accordance with the principles of the invention hereinabove set forth, without the exercise of any inventive ingenuity. I desire, therefore, to be protected for any and all such modifications and variations that may be made within the spirit of the present invention and scope of the claims hereto appended.

What I claim is:

'1. A laundering device comprising a cylinder open at the top and having a bottom wall, said bottom wall having a central portion offset inwardly relative to the peripheral portion thereof and a plurality of openings formed in said central portion and said peripheral portion, a plunger removably held within said cylinder and slidable therein against and away from said bottom wall, said plunger comprising a cup shaped body, including a bottom wall and an upstanding cylindrical flange, a rod of greater height than said cylinder extending upwardly from said bottom wall of said plunger, a cover plate for the opening of said cylinder slidably supported on said rod, and resilient means engaging said rod and said cover plate normally maintaining said plunger in close proximity to said cover plate.

2. The laundering device of claim 1, wherein relatively low studs are formed on said peripheral portion of said bottom wall of said cylinder, said openings in said peripheral portion being formed between and through said studs.

3. The laundering device of claim 1, wherein said cylinder is formed with an outwardly and downwardly curved flange at its open end, said flange forming gripping means for said cylinder.

4. The laundering device of claim 1, wherein said cover plate is provided with pins on its inner face adapted to extend into said cylinder for centering said cover plate on said cylinder and to engage the upper edge of said plunger flange to limit the movement of said plunger away from said bottom wall of said cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

